The City of Brantford is asking for help after a “cherished” 101-year-old bronze plaque commemorating the invention of the telephone was stolen overnight.<\/p>\n
Police say city employees alerted them to the fact the plaque had been\u00a0“forcefully removed” from the monument on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
“It’s\u00a0something we’re really upset about\u00a0and [were] saddened to learn,”\u00a0said city spokesperson Maria Visocchi.<\/p>\n
“It is obviously\u00a0a very cherished part of the city’s history\u00a0and our heritage and we would really like the public’s assistance in trying to get it back.”<\/p>\n
The dedication plaque was bolted to the memorial at Bell Memorial Park for more than a century.<\/p>\n
It was about two feet by\u00a0two-and-a-half feet and hefty, so Visocchi said the city suspects the theft was planned.<\/p>\n
“It would be very heavy, because it’s made of solid bronze, but probably a couple of strong people could carry it away,” she explained. “They would need specific tools to get it un-affixed from the concrete.”<\/p>\n
The plaque\u00a0reads, in part: “This monument \u2026 was placed here through international subscription by the bell telephone memorial association to mark the invention of the telephone at Brantford by Alexander Graham Bell in 1874.”<\/p>\n
The inscription\u00a0also states\u00a0the plaque was unveiled on Oct. 24, 1917 \u00a0by the governor general of Canada and “in the presence of the inventor.”<\/p>\n
Officials are asking whoever took the plaque to return it to city hall at 100 Wellington Square.<\/p>\n
Anyone with information about the theft is asked to call Brantford police at\u00a0\u00a0519-756-0113.<\/p>\n